Humor jokes

Surely the lawyer for a New Jersey township is not “a big meanie.”That’s the assertion in a pro bono lawyer’s response to a cease-and-desist letter—which has hit Buzzfeed and has been viewed around 300,000 times—seeking to shut down a website using the domain name westorange.info. The website, operated by a West Orange resident, has information about the town.The lawyer who wrote the cease-and-desist letter is Richard Trenk, who represents the New Jersey township of West Orange. The lawyer who responded is Stephen Kaplitt. Above the Law published both letters, calling Kaplitt’s missive an “epic letter.”The West Orange resident who operates the website is Jake Freivald, a former losing candidate for town council, Above the Law says. Trenk informs Freivald his website is “is unauthorized and is likely to cause confustion” (the typo is Trenk’s). Trenk goes on to demand that Freivald cease using the domain name and … [Read more...] about Lawyer’s snarky response to cease-and-desist letter suggests the sender is joking or ‘a big meanie’

Bad jokes and poor judgment can be disastrous in the courtroom.Salon has a list of eight horrible courtroom jokes, leading with the knock-knock joke told by George Zimmerman’s lawyer, Don West, during opening statements. Here is West’s joke: “Knock-knock. Who’s there? George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? All right, good. You’re on the jury.”The Salon writer, Fordham law professor Geoffrey Sant, says the joke insulted jurors who were selected because they didn’t know much about Zimmerman, who was later acquitted in the death of Trayvon Martin.But Sant says the worst joke in legal history occurred during the first oral argument of Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court. Defending Texas’ abortion restrictions, lawyer Jay Floyd opened with an aside about the two lawyers arguing against him, who were female. “It’s an old joke,” Floyd began, “but when a man argues against two beautiful ladies like this, they are … [Read more...] about Was ‘beautiful ladies’ comment in Roe v. Wade the worst courtroom humor of all time?

A linguistics expert who spent time observing management interactions at seven U.K. companies found the women she observed typically failed to get laughs when they told jokes.The study by Aston University professor Judith Baxter found that more than 80 percent of quips by senior female figures were met with silence, while 90 percent of jokes by men resulted in a positive response, including laughter. The Telegraph, the Guardian and the Financial Times (reg. req.) wrote about the study last year; the American Lawyer’s Careerist column notes the findings.Baxter also found that when women did tell a joke, their humor tended to be self-deprecating. Male managers, on the other hand, used humor to display leadership of a team. And male subordinates used humor to show male bosses that they are on the same wavelength.“Why should we care about all this?” the Careerist asks. “Well, it points out two salient facts: Women are still having a hell of a time earning points for … [Read more...] about Linguist sees gender gap in reactions to managers’ humor

Last summer, comedian Robert Kaseberg filed a copyright infringement suit against Conan O’Brien, among others, alleging that O’Brien incorporated four jokes written by Kaseberg in the opening monologues of his television show “Conan.” According to the complaint, Kaseberg published each of the jokes – all of which were based on then-current events and news stories – on his personal blog and Twitter feed on various dates between January and June, 2015, only to have O’Brien feature the same jokes in his monologues on the same respective dates.Copyright lawsuits involving the infringement of jokes are surprisingly rare. As a result, lawsuits such as Kaseberg’s raise interesting – and largely unsettled – issues about the application of copyright law to comedy routines and jokes. For instance, one issue likely to arise in lawsuits involving “one-liners” about current events is whether the allegedly infringing … [Read more...] about Copyright Is Nothing To Joke About

A Los Angeles County judge was speaking to lawyers in an off-the-record session last summer when he made what he considered a joking remark that has now landed him in trouble with the California’s judicial conduct agency.Judge Harvey Giss was admonished on Wednesday for the comment, an “offensive and inappropriate” reference to the Ku Klux Klan, according to a press release (PDF) from the Commission on Judicial Performance. The Los Angeles Times and CNS have stories.Giss was discussing a plea agreement with lawyers at the time. The only thing that would make the defendants agree to a plea, Giss said, was for the judge to “come out in a white sheet and a pointy white hat.” A family member of the defendant was in the courtroom at the time.Defense lawyers sought Giss’ recusal two days later. He acknowledged then that it was a bad statement, but complained that “people don’t have a sense of humor any more.” … [Read more...] about Calif. Judge Admonished for Klan Reference He Considered a Joke

DLA Piper has responded after widespread coverage of a client-billing dispute that revealed an embarrassing email exchange between lawyers apparently joking about a client’s bill.In a statement, the firm said, “We hold ourselves to the highest legal and ethical standards. The behavior as described is unacceptable to DLA Piper and our clients. The emails were in fact an offensive and inexcusable effort at humor, but in no way reflect actual excessive billing.”The New York Law Journal reported on the response and the New York Times published a firm-wide memo sent after its initial coverage.The memo was purportedly to help attorneys address concerns from clients and notes in part, “While we will make no effort to defend the foolish emails generated by the lawyers involved in this matter, we will defend vigorously the firm’s track record of delivering high-quality legal services at a fair price, including the reasonable fees generated in the matter in … [Read more...] about DLA Piper: ‘Churn that bill’ email was ‘inexcusable effort at humor’

Nearly every country has stupidity jokes, though the ethnic target of the humor varies by region.But just one country—the United States—saw a rise in lawyer jokes in the 1980s, according to British sociologist Christie Davies. Slate spoke with Davies as part of a series of stories on humor.According to the article, “the so-called Great American Lawyer Joke Cycle of the 1980s didn’t spread anywhere beyond the United States.” Davies viewed the jokes as unique to America because it is the only country rooted in the sanctity of law at the same time those who practice it are scorned.Davies is author of Jokes and Targets. In this book excerpt, Davies says lawyer jokes became popular as income differences widened between high and low-earning Americans, competition increased in the legal profession, and incomes within the profession varied significantly.The jokes are a “strange tribute to the distinctive American virtues, to the emphasis on rights, legality, … [Read more...] about 1980s-era lawyer jokes were unique to US, sociologist says

A New Jersey family court judge admittedly used bad judgment when he joked about the disabilities of two individuals appearing before him and implied in another comment apparently intended to be humorous that a former president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey might be an illegal immigrant.However, his prompt apologies and embarrassment over the incidents should be punishment enough, says Essex Superior Court Judge James Convery in a response (PDF) filed last week to a complaint (PDF) filed early last month by the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.Convery said his off-the-cuff comments weren’t intended to be offensive.Hat tip: Star-Ledger. … [Read more...] about N.J. Judge: Public Humiliation Already Punished Me for Bad Jokes on Bench

A lawyer for West Publishing didn’t see the humor when a federal judge hearing a motion to set aside a nearly $5.2 million defamation verdict tried to lighten the proceedings.New York lawyer James Rittinger is asking the judge to overturn or reduce the award to two law professors who said they were defamed when West identified them as the authors of a pocket part that was written by a first-year lawyer. The Legal Intelligencer covered the arguments.The senior federal judge, John Fullam, “is known for an especially dry wit and a deadpan delivery,” the Intelligencer says.When Rittinger said the professors didn’t have “a single case” to back up one of their arguments, Fullam asked, “What about married cases?” When Rittinger objected to the size of a punitive award, Fullam asked, “You think it should be increased?”Rittinger explained that he got the joke when the judge tried to explain the first question, according to the … [Read more...] about West Lawyer Is Unimpressed with Judge’s Jokes in Hearing on $5.2M Pocket Part Verdict

Gone are the days when there was only good humor or satire. Swear words, crass, nasty, blunt, sexist jokes are setting the stage on fire these days. Interestingly, in most parts, the ‘civilized’ population finds a temporary refuge by laughing their heart out on these narrations/performances/standup comedy stints. The performances are duly appreciated as well. But whenthe limit of dignity is actually crossed is a grey area to be decided. The subject matters (butt) of the jokes, or so to speak, the laughing stocks have not only been women but their physical appearance, their feminism, and other feminine attributes. The nature of such a humor attack at the dignity of women is unbearable at times, to few at least, if not, to all. The recent incident of March 22 in the annual fest of NLU D, Kairos witnessed a remonstration which has challenged the very recreational underpinnings including the kind of humor the society enjoys.The form and the manner of protest was misguided, … [Read more...] about Challenging humor: The NLU Delhi girls protest